Ashley's Random Blog

Scrapblog of Nephew Visit

2009-07-20T06:00:00.001-05:00

As promised, here is the scrapblog of the past week.

Braves Game

2009-07-19T06:00:00.002-05:00

For my two kids, this was the 2nd game of the summer that they've been to see. My son and daughter REALLY want to go to a game and sit behind the dugout, so we may have to see what can be arranged. This was my eldest nephew's first pro baseball game (so he told me) which means it's likely to his brother's as well. They told me they enjoyed all of it except for the fact that the Braves lost. My eldest nephew brought his glove with him and next time wants to sit where he can catch a foul or a home run.

Yesterday was the last full day we'll have the nephews here. Their mom comes to claim them today as well as a couple of things from the parents' old house. Next week we get ready to go to the BEACH.

Stone Mountain

2009-07-18T06:00:00.001-05:00

Well, we didn't make it to the indoor climbing place Friday. Instead, since the chance of rain had gone down, I gave the kids the option of going to the Zoo or out to Stone Mountain. They chose Stone Mountain. We all did Sky Hike first, which is a good thing as by the time we got to the front of the line, the line itself had grown considerably longer. The kids then ran around the smaller ropes course and tried the climbing wall.

I didn't catch my youngest nephew or my daughter doing the wall, just those two. Anyway, after that we had lunch at Miss Katie's there at Crossroads. Good, but expensive. The kids ended up bringing majority of their lunches home for dinner. We also spent at least an hour at the Barn before retrying the rocks. It was about that point that it started raining briefly too. I took that as a sign to come home for the day.

This afternoon is the Brave's game vs. the Mets.

Keeping Busy

2009-07-17T06:00:00.002-05:00

With my younger nephew's asthma and allergies to cats, I'm trying to make sure that the kids go OUT most of the day. We got a later start Thursday than normal, but not surprising given we went to Six Flags the day before. The boys wouldn't get dressed until late morning and I didn't feel like forcing the issue. I don't think brains were working until after lunch. I'm not keen on making things for them to do, but there's only so much stuff outside of my house for them TO do.

So, Thursday I hauled the group to the Mountain Park pool and set them loose for about 3 hours.

When we got home, I let them sit and watch tv for a while and I got dinner ready. After dinner, they went back out and rode bikes around the "safe" part of my street (ie: the cul de sac road which is across the street from me). Then it was baths and bed with lights out at 9:30.

Today I may try taking them out to Suwanee for a while. There's an indoor rock climbing place that might be good to check out.

The Exhaustion that is Six Flags

2009-07-16T06:00:00.001-05:00

We finally made it to Six Flags on Wednesday. We arrived at the park 15 minutes after opening and didn't leave until 30 minutes before closing. My daughter adored the Scream Machine (though it may be a toss up with the Mind Bender), my son liked the Ninja. My oldest nephew I think, liked the Goliath the best. My younger nephew seemed to really enjoy the Mind Bender.

I was surprised that the crowds weren't worse than they were. The longest wait I think we had was for the Monster Plantation (approx. 30-45 minutes). Second longest was probably for the Goliath (approx. 30 min.) at the end of the evening. Thunder River had posted a 30 minute wait, I think we only waited 10-15 minutes. The biggest crowd in one place was at Skull Island. I did manage to find a place to sit while the kids played, though.

All in all, a very busy and tiring day. In theory the plan was to try to go to the zoo tomorrow since the chance of rain increases Friday. The only way that would work is to go in the morning. I don't see it happening. I'm not sure what we'll get into (or up to), it's a wait and see.

Seen on the Road

2009-07-15T06:00:00.000-05:00

Sorry for the blurriness.. but it reads "Buy One Get One Free - Homes from the 180s"

Georgia Aquarium/World of Coke

2009-07-14T06:00:00.005-05:00

I took my kids to the Aquarium yesterday. We left fairly early to get there around opening time. This was necessary so that I could see about getting annual passes taken care of. At any rate, as per usual with my children, the visit was a 'zoom' visit. We did go see the Titanic (which according to a billboard I've seen, leaves Sept. 7th), which my daughter still thinks is spooky. They spent at least 30 minutes touching the rays at the touch pool in front of Georgia Explorer. They also were able to get a chance to see the penguins. YES, the penguins are still there, you have to go behind the scenes to see them.

After much pleading on the part of my nephews, we stopped next door at the World of Coca-Cola. I have to say that their 4D movie caught me off guard. The chairs MOVE. You don't just get the air and water effects. The kids actually found it funny, so all was well there.

I should have a scrapblog with a lot more pictures at the end of the week.

Preview of Den

2009-07-13T06:00:00.001-05:00

It's rearranged! Bill can now use the treadmill and watch TV again.

I picked up two NEW Lane recliners at Goodwill as well as a TV stand. That has the actual end table that was holding the TV as an actual table instead.

Camp Photos

2009-07-12T06:00:00.002-05:00

The robot my son and his partner put together. It uses sound to detect barriers and turns and goes the other direction.

I forget what these "bits" are called, but they programmed them on the computer to function in a sequence, play sound, etc.

My son also demonstrated his version of pacman, a screen saver, a target game (shoot the key into door keyholes), and a 'spinner' that creates geometric designs (somewhat like a screen saver).

Preview of Entertainment Room

2009-07-11T06:00:00.002-05:00

It's done! Woo Hoo!

The instruments are 'behind' the futon.

Next project: finish rearranging the den. After nephews leave, I'll paint the downstairs bathroom. When we get back from our trip to the beach, the roofers will be replacing our roof. The list just keeps growing..

Camp Stuff

2009-07-10T06:00:00.000-05:00

It's the end of camp week for my kids. All in all a success. My daughter has enjoyed the Zoo. She's not sure if she wants to do it next year or not, but she had fun. She had fun getting to see the education animals (and loved holding the red tail boa). The crafts tickled her pink, though she was very annoyed with the older kids who made fun of them.

My son is convinced he's going to try to do his camp again next year. His picks are adventure camp with boy scouts and CEISMC. I'll be visiting this afternoon to see what the projects look like. I've had multiple video games described to me, a screen saver and a LEGO robot. He was also thrilled to get a chance to go swimming at Tech's athletic center.

I'm hoping to enroll both in CEISMC's kids club, I think they'll enjoy that. I've also been told to look out at Fernbank for more parent's nights out where kids get to do science stuff.

So, tomorrow a day to move furniture into the new entertainment room and Sunday my nephews arrive for a week. I hope everyone has a good weekend!

Georgia Aquarium - Random photo

2009-07-08T06:00:00.001-05:00

Giant Squid on display in Cold Water Quest at the Georgia Aquarium

Aquarium Waldo

2009-07-07T07:56:00.000-05:00

I'm effectively the "where's waldo" of the aquarium today. If you can find me and ask about penguins, you may get lucky and get a quick trip behind the scenes to see them. I'm only here until 1:30, after that I have no idea who Waldo is.

Views from the Zoo

2009-07-06T06:00:00.001-05:00

We took the kids to Zoo Atlanta Friday since Bill had the day off. My camera actually cooperated for the most part and I was able to get a few good pictures. Here are some of the ones I took.

Painting Tip

2009-07-05T04:31:00.001-05:00

My kids wanted to help paint. My daughter had friends over Thursday when the light fixture was installed, so my son and I started the first coat of paint. Note to self: don't expect it to only take a single coat (or a single gallon) when teaching a child how to paint a room. I'll admit, my son did a fair job of painting. You can't see the little parts in the picture that need to be 'fixed', but I know they're there. Now it's on to the second coat. I think I'll handle the trim work myself.

Have a Happy 4th!

2009-07-04T06:00:00.000-05:00

My Daughter's New Fish

2009-07-03T06:00:00.001-05:00

I tried taking pictures of them, but they wouldn't cooperate. So I videoed them instead. They're "GloFish" - one is red, the other green (though it looks kinda yellow in this lighting).

Random picture

2009-07-02T06:00:00.002-05:00

Part of the Cartoon Network play area at the Braves' stadium.

Picnic at the park

2009-07-01T06:08:00.001-05:00

I took my kids out to Stone Mountain yesterday for time to play at Crossroads and to have a picnic. These are a few of the shots I took of them on the Sky Hike. My daughter was very proud of herself, she did the second level. I would have gone up with them, but I wore open-toe sandals instead of close-toed shoes. They enjoyed themselves regardless.

Projects

2009-06-30T06:03:00.001-05:00

The two coats of KILZ primer were applied to the cabinets yesterday. My children did most of the work. I went back and caught drips and filled in gaps.

We got out our plant starter kits and planted our seeds in small greenhouses yesterday. They'll start growing inside while we plot out the garden.

I have to call insurance today to see about the status of my claim (adjustor said I should hear within 48 hours). Once that gets started, the roofer said I could put stuff in the dumpster. I'll work on getting rid of more stuff then.

For Today - at least one coat of paint on the cabinets, measuring the garden and a picnic in the park.

Starting the cabinets

2009-06-29T08:27:00.001-05:00

While I wait to see if the electrician will call me this morning, I started the kids with sealing the bathroom cabinets (they wanted to do it). They want to help with the room painting too, but until I've seen the electrician that'll wait.

Room Re-do

2009-06-28T05:55:00.001-05:00

There's always SOMETHING that has to be done on the house. Now that insurance is going to replace my roof, I'm concentrating inside. I found the color paint I'm going to use for the old play room, called raffia ribbon. It's a tan that leads more toward gold. Anyway, as I was prepping the room to paint (getting furniture away from walls, spackling screw holes, etc) I realized that I have to take the single light fixture off of the wall to paint properly. When I first put it up, it was ok to have the cord hanging down the wall since large shelves were hiding it. With the room rearranged, this just won't work. So now there's no lighting in the room. I was going to have to contact an electrician anyway because two closest don't have lights. Now I'll just move up the timetable and see how much 3 will be. There's no fixture or wiring in any of the three locations yet.

My husband says I came up with a 'wild hair' yesterday as well. Before I headed to HD to get paint, I decided I was going to strip the cabinets in the downstairs bathroom. They need the help and compared to the kitchen cabinets will be a cinch. So, while I wait on the electrician's verdict, the play room is in a holding pattern and I'll work on the bathroom instead.

Isn't home renovation fun?

Random Picture

2009-06-27T06:00:00.000-05:00

10 millionth guest

2009-06-26T06:00:00.001-05:00

So yesterday the Georgia Aquarium had it's 10 millionth guest go through. While exciting and all that, I found what went on just before to be more interesting. A group of soldiers from Ft. Bragg (assuming I heard correctly) heading out to Iraq & Afghanistan later in the day or early in the morning stopped by for a brief visit. Everyone had already gathered in the atrium to welcome the special guest and when we heard they were coming in everyone gave them a standing ovation. I have to say it was definitely one of those moments that I'll remember. I wish them all well, here's a picture I have of them with Bernie Marcus. It's taken with my phone in a rather dark atrium, so I apologize for the quality. I did clean it up some, it's just the camera and the lighting.

Reorg Day 3

2009-06-25T06:08:00.000-05:00

At the end of day 2.5 I was actually finished with as much as I can do. The room needs a new coat of paint, the walls show the wear of having been a play room for the last 10 years. So, the next step will be to figure out what color and the next opportunity I get I will be painting it. From there the room will change functions to an "entertainment" room. We'll move the big TV from the den to this room as well as the futon. The videos have already moved. Notably missing from the room is the twin set of black shelves on the opposite wall. That's been 'recycled' to the hall closet. It now holds the multitude of board games that we own. That closet and one other need to get lights, so at some point I guess I'll have to call the electrician and see how much THAT will cost. It can wait a bit, though.

The Lego table will, for the time anyway, remain in this room. There's just no room for it or my daughter's drum set anywhere else.